Pat Perez Goes In On Tiger, Outrage Ensues

On Thursday, Pat Perez came out with some barrel fire takes on Tiger Woods on “Out of Bounds” on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. Listen to the audio here:

If you’re unable to listen, here is the quote that set golf Twitter ablaze:

“…he’s got this new corporation he started so he has to keep his name relevant to keep the corporation going,” Perez said. “So he’s going to show up to a few events, he’s going to try to play.., he’s going to show the Monster bag, he’s going to show the TaylorMade driver, he’s gonna get on TV. He’s got the Nike clothes; he’s gotta keep that stuff relevant, but the bottom line is he knows he cant beat anybody. He knows it… I mean he shot 77. That guy cant shoot 77. What does he do the next day? Aw my backs gone. He knows he cant beat anybody! I told you! He’s not gonna come out and play poorly.”

The takes were not very wide ranging, and almost entirely dedicated towards slamming Perez’s two win resume. Probably because no one can argue with anything that he said.

This type of deflecting is what makes #TakeLife so incredibly frustrating, especially on Twitter. People wax on and on about wanting players to be open, honest, and to say what’s on their minds. Then once it actually happens, we line him up for the firing squad for not falling in line and saying the same cliches as everyone else.

Listen back to the audio above. Perez prefaces his take by giving Tiger the highest of praise about his impact on the game, clearly showing his understanding of how much of his own wealth can be attributed to the Big Cat. He then goes on the offensive, and says exactly what’s on his mind. On a show that he co-hosts. It’s literally a show where he shares his opinions. And he shares an opinion that no one (as far as I can tell) disagrees with. And people got mad!

The reality is, there are a lot of guys out there on tour thinking the same exact thing, and are willing to say so in private. Perez is the only one so far with the balls to actually say it in public. It’s worth noting that he’s talking about the current state of Tiger Woods, which we can all rationally admit is rather pathetic, right? At no point did Perez even remotely discredit anything Tiger has done in the past. So if you’re citing Pat’s resume and comparing it up against Tiger’s, you are part of the problem. If you’re going to tell me the prerequisite for being able to say anything even remotely critical about Tiger is that you need to have a better resume than him, essentially you’re saying Cat should be as untouchable as Kim Jung-un is in Pyongyang.

One would think that this doesn’t need to be said, but apparently it does. Just because Pat Perez has won two PGA Tour events doesn’t mean he can’t have an opinion on Tiger. He’s not comparing his own career to Big Cat’s, so when you cite his record, you’re moving the goal posts. In the golf take world, we’re mostly stuck listening to talking head’s spouting off the same recycled takes (myself not excluded), so why wouldn’t we put more stock in what a peer of Tiger’s has to say on the issue? If he was dissing on his career, and spouting off inaccuracies, I can understand the outrage. But the fact that no one wants to debate what Perez actually said, and only wants to fire shots at him for actually saying it tells the story on the level of credibility of the criticism.

Let me make it clear, if I haven’t already, that I like Pat Perez. He’s one of the few interesting characters on the tour that will straight up tell you exactly how he feels 100% of the time. If you want to disagree with his takes, by all means, have at it. The fact that his resume isn’t even remotely in the same realm of Tiger’s doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have an interesting perspective on the issue. You should absolutely pay more attention to someone who has been in the ring for the better part of two decades over someone like myself any day of the week. We have more than enough talking heads. We don’t have enough guys like Perez who are willing to put their honest feelings out in public.

Perez Ejects From Twitter

Double P had already deleted his Twitter account on Monday, with the common theory being that it was related to the flak he was taking for pelting three unsuspecting fans with tee shots at Riviera last weekend. However, Perez made it clear through this Instagram post that he was very aware of the criticism.